Month: September 2005

My constituents in the Texas gulf coast are very concerned about the price of gasoline, especially in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Katrina has left nine gulf coast refineries inoperable, and reduced capacity at four. This will mean the loss of 20 to 40 million barrels of oil in coming months, and prices at the … Continue reading “Gas Subsidies for Iraqis, Gas Taxes for Americans”

“Neocons do not feel that kind of alarm or anxiety about the growth of the state in the past century, seeing it as natural, indeed inevitable. … People have always preferred strong government to weak government, although they certainly have no liking for anything that smacks of overly intrusive government.” – Irving Kristol, “The Neoconservative … Continue reading “The Folly of Empire”

U.S. influence in the process of drafting a constitution for Iraq is excessive and "highly inappropriate," a United Nations official says. "It is a matter of public record that in the final weeks of the process the newly arrived U.S. ambassador [Zalmay Khalilzad] took an extremely hands-on role," Justin Alexander, legal affairs officer for the … Continue reading “UN Official Says US Interfering in Iraq Constitution Process”

http://www.independent.org/tii/antiwar/e050906.html

As gas prices continue to soar, both reflecting and promoting bad foreign and domestic policies, it’s time to recognize that there is another way. We don’t have to be imperialists, bombing and attacking oil-rich nations. We don’t need to invade and occupy much of the Muslim world. We don’t need to fear the consequent terrorism … Continue reading “Alaskan Oil a Key to Keeping Our Freedoms”

"What are words for, when no one listens anymore?" – Missing Persons Michael Ignatieff is, by almost any measure, much smarter than the average bear. I am likely to be one of those bears, as are you. Dr. Ignatieff, in fact, is a well-regarded professor of "human rights" at Harvard’s School of Government. Despite his … Continue reading “Thomas Jefferson, Warmonger?”

In spite of my natural inclination to say something in response to some of the ominous developments in the wake of Katrina, I’m going to hold my tongue until Monday. I haven’t had a real vacation in years, and this is an opportunity to survey the terrain, collect my thoughts, and return on Wednesday with … Continue reading “A Death Threat”

For more than a year, representatives of 35 member states have been preparing a draft "outcome document" for the "high-level event" (HLE) involving heads of state that will immediately precede this month’s 60th session of the UN General Assembly. If anyone thought John Bolton – our ambassador to the United Nations for the next year, … Continue reading “Bolton in a China Shop”

The raison d’etre of the Bush administration is war in the Middle East in order to protect America from terrorism and to ensure America’s oil supply. On both counts the Bush administration has failed catastrophically. Bush’s single-minded focus on the “war against terrorism” has compounded a natural disaster and turned it into the greatest calamity … Continue reading “What’s Next, Mr. War President?”

It is important to be responsible in discussing the aftermath of what seems to be developing into the worst, most destructive national disaster in this nation’s history. There is a human tendency to fix blame, and in the political arena to fix blame on one’s political opponents, even if it takes a lot of stretching. … Continue reading “Making Disasters Worse”